


Wishbone

by a_grumpy_kitty (orphan_account)



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Getting Together, Internalized Homophobia, Link Neal - Freeform, Love Confessions, Pining Rhett, Rhett McLaughlin - Freeform, repressed emotion time babeyyy, they love their wives but also each other, very secret pining link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21864235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/a_grumpy_kitty
Summary: "-I woulda gone anywhere you’d want to. I’d go anywhere with you and it’s because I love you, man. And I know what you’re gonna say, all that bullshit about how of course you love me, you’re like a brother to me. But I also know that you know I don't mean it like that. I been trynna be good about it. Just lettin myself touch you when I know I can get away with it and not feel guilty for it. But Link, I’m in love with you. And for 35 years now it’s been eatin’ me alive and if I didn’t say somethin’ now I think it woulda killed me.”
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	Wishbone

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by my favorite Richard Siken quote "Sorry about the bony elbows, sorry we lived here, sorry about the scene at the bottom of the stairwell and how I ruined everything by saying it out loud." from the poem Wishbone

The air at Mythical Entertainment had been thick with tension in the last few weeks. Everyone could feel it, and for Rhett, it had become suffocating. If Link had noticed it too, well he hadn’t said anything about it to Rhett. Days had begun to feel long and drawn out, like at the drop of a hat things could explode. But maybe that was just Rhett. Link had to feel it too, he thought. How could he not?  
It was Thursday evening when the bomb finally went off. The two men were sat quietly at their desks, only the clatter of fingers on a keyboard and the soft hum of an old country recond filling the room. Rhett had spent a good part of their brainstorming session wishing badly that Link would finally say something, finally break whatever had been choking them for so long now. But Rhett had been wishing the same thing for a while. It had begun to eat at him and finally, the dam broke. He slammed his hand on the desk, making his partner jump and turn to look at him with wide eyes.  
“What the hell man?” Rhett demanded, anger starting to boil under his skin. Link just cocked his head in bewilderment. Link hadn’t even developed an answer yet before Rhett began, weeks of anger and frustration and confusion, pouring out of him.  
“I've been waitin’ for weeks now for you to say somethin’. We need to talk about whatever the hell’s been goin’ on cause it’s driving me crazy. Please tell me you know what I’m talkin’ about. Please tell me you been feelin’ it too.” His accent had become thicker with his pleas.  
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” Link had straightened himself out, turning back towards the computer in front of him.  
“Don’t do that. You can’t just keep pretendin’ like everythings okay right now.”  
“Fine. You wanna talk about it? Let's talk about it.” Link swiveled in his chair to face Rhett directly. “You been acting different, man. Touching me, and all these damn innuendos. I don’t get it. You can’t keep your damn hands to yourself.”  
Rhett furrowed his eyebrows. That wasn’t at all what he had expected Link to say.  
“That’s what this has been? You not feelin’ comfortable with me touchin’ you?”  
Link groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face.  
“I just want you to knock it off or something, man. You don't have to try and hold my hand every 10 seconds. You been acting like a damn schoolgirl with a crush.”  
Rhett looked down at his fidgeting hands, feeling his heart sink just a little. “Okay then. Thanks for lettin’ me know. I’m-i’m glad we finally talked about it.” Rhett stood up and collected his things. “I think I'm gonna head home now. Didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”  
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, Rhett. I just-“  
“No its fine, I swear” Rhett cut him off, already at the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, buddy.”  
As Rhett walked to his car, a feeling he hadn’t felt since he lived in North Carolina began to rise in his throat. A panicked feeling like he was being caught, although he hadn’t done anything to warrant it. He called back on a conversation he had with his therapist last week, about letting himself feel his feelings, that he wasn’t wrong in feeling anything he felt. An important part of many of their conversations stood out, though. The importance of not pushing things down anymore, not bottling them up until they inevitably explode. Rhett knew eventually he had to unbottle himself, and he knew it was long overdue. 

—

In hindsight, this probably should have been a conversation Rhett planned before having said conversation. He mentally scolded himself, realizing he had no idea where to go from “I gotta tell you somethin’, man.”  
He stood next to the opening in the loft floor, looking at Link sat in the armchair across the floor. He didn’t move from his spot, in case things went south he would have a fast exit. Link looked up at him with a furrowed brow. “Is this about last night? Cause I'm sorry-“  
“No.” Rhett cut him off with a firm voice. It was a voice Link knew well and knew he needed to just shut up and let Rhett talk.  
“There’s somethin’ I been needin’ to tell you for a while, and it took me a long time to feel right to say it. But I’m tired of pretendin’ man.”  
“What the hell are you talking about, Rhett?” Link had stood up from his chair, his voice indicating that he knew what was about to be said.  
“I been followin’ you around my whole life. To college, to California, and truth be told there’s not anywhere I wouldnt’ve followed you too.”  
“Thats not- you havn’t been following me, man. Those are places we wanted to go, together. You’re not some lost puppy trailing behind me.”  
“I know that. I’m just sayin’ I woulda gone anywhere you’d want to. I’d go anywhere with you and it’s because I love you, man. And I know what you’re gonna say, all that bullshit about how of course you love me, you’re like a brother to me. But I also know that you know I don't mean it like that. I been trynna be good about it. Just lettin myself touch you when I know I can get away with it and not feel guilty for it. But Link, I’m in love with you. And for 35 years now it’s been eatin’ me alive and if I didn’t say somethin’ now I think it woulda killed me.”  
Link was silent. His and Rhett's relationship had always been balanced on an unspoken agreement that if neither of them said anything, then everything would be fine. That silent rule had been keeping everything together since high school and now, however many years later, Rhett had taken that agreement and set it on fire.  
“Please say somethin’.” For the second day in a row, Rhett found himself pleading with his best friend to cut through this awful tension with his words.  
“Why’re you doing this now?”  
Once again Rhett found himself surprised in his friend's answer. He opened his mouth to speak, but Link kept on.  
“Did you ever stop and think about what this would do? It’s been 30 goddamn years Rhett. You might be ‘ready to stop pretending’ but maybe I’m not. You even think about how I would feel about this? We got fuckin’ wives man. We got kids. I can’t do this with you right now.” Link pushed his way past Rhett and let himself down the ladder. After a moment of shock, Rhett scrambled down too. “Link-“  
“Save it. I’m goin home. I’ll see you later.” The door slammed behind him, leaving Rhett at the base of the ladder, thinking about how he ruined everything by saying it out loud. 

———- 

Something felt broken inside Rhett. It had been almost two days since he last spoke to Link. He’d been swimming in memories of the life they’d shared. Memories of bony elbows and knees, splashing water and wrestling. He watched himself and Link as kids, no more than 10 years old probably, dropping hands as a group of older kids threw slurs at them. Watched the same kids at 13 gets their first girlfriends, pushing down jealousy they didn’t quite understand. Rhett wished so badly he could go back, tell them he was sorry they lived there, sorry they couldn’t have been raised in a time where they didn’t feel ashamed of what they wanted. He wished he could hug those little boys they used to be and tell them their pastor was wrong, they weren’t sick, they weren’t damned. It was okay to love each other in the way they did, it wouldn't end the world to say out loud what they felt. But it was too late for that. They grew up never going further than friends, no matter how bad either of them wanted it. They pushed it down so hard, it took Rhett two years of therapy to even touch it. And finally, Rhett said it out loud. And it felt like the world was ending. The worst part wasn’t that Link didn’t feel the same. The worst part was that Rhett knew he did but was still so afraid to admit it. Rhett could wait though, for the day Link didn’t feel so scared anymore. After all, he had waited this long hadn’t he? 

——— 

When 11am Monday morning rolled around, and Link wasn’t at work, Rhett knew it was time to finish their conversation. It wasn’t like Link to miss work without even calling first. He let Stevie know he was leaving and set off for Links house. Anxious energy prickled across Rhett's skin and he pulled into the Neal’s driveway. Something inside said Link wouldn’t be at home but he knocked on the door anyway.  
“Rhett?” Christy answered the door, slightly confused.  
“Hey, Chris. Any chance Link is home?” He peered over her shoulder like maybe Link was hiding behind her.  
“No? He left this morning. He wasn’t at work?”  
“You know what? I forgot he was going with Chase to pick something up. Real sorry I bothered ya. I’ll see you later? Sorry again.” Rhett apologized, already turning back to get in his car. Christy just continued looking confused, giving Rhett a half-ass wave as he pulled away from the house. If Link wasn’t home, Rhett thought about the only other place he could think of him being. 

———

There were only a handful of cars in the parking lot when Rhett pulled up. Early afternoon on a weekday wasn’t a popular beach time, but there were still a decent amount of people littered around. He spotted a familiar silver SUV parked at the far edge of the lot. He didn’t bother walking to the car since he knew it was empty anyway. Instead, he headed straight onto the sand, toward a large pile of huge rocks. As he hoped, there was Link, sitting with his legs pulled up to his chest, watching the waves crash onto the shore.  
“You remember coming here?” Link asked as Rhett sat down, not bother to see who it was. It could have only been one person, anyways.  
Rhett hummed in answer. “First place we came when we got here.”  
“I don't even think stopped at our houses first. Just came straight here.” Link's voice was thick and wet like he had been crying for a long time.  
Neither of them spoke for a while after that. They just sat, watching the grey sky where it met the darker ocean. It wasn’t sunny outside, like the first time they had come here. The sky was grey in a way that threatened rain that wouldn’t come. It felt like a long time before either of them spoke again, but finally, Link did.  
“I’m not mad at you, you know.” Rhett didn't have to look at him to know a few tears had slipped down his cheek. They had always been good at that, not needing physical proof of things that were happening with the other.  
“I know that.”  
“I never thought that was a conversation we’d ever have.”  
“I know that too.”  
“Rhett, I’m so scared.” For the first time since Rhett sat down, they looked at each other. Link's eyes were red and glassy, confirming what Rhett already know.  
“I know, bo. But you don’t have to be. This ain’t North Carolina. This ain’t 1985 anymore. We ain’t goin’ to hell, this ain’t wrong.” To emphasize his point, Rhett reached over and held Links hand in his. For a split second, Links hand began to jerk away, before relaxing and letting Rhett hold it.  
Tears were freely falling now, between both of them.  
“We got families, Rhett. We can’t do this to them, we can’t-“  
“Link.” Rhett squeezed his hand tight. “You really think they wouldn’t understand? That they wouldn’t know that us loving each other doesn’t mean we love them any less?”  
Link sniffles. He nods. “Yeah. Yeah. You’re right. I know you’re right. I just. I spent so much of my life telling myself that I was sick for wanting this. And now you’re saying I wasn't alone, that it's okay and I don't know what to do. I love you so goddamn much it feels like I could drown in it.” Link had turned to rest his head on his knees but kept his gaze on the sand beneath him. Rhett squeezed his hand again, and Link looked up to face the other man.  
“You’re allowed to have this. You deserve to have this.”  
“Can I-“  
“If you don’t, I think I really will die.”  
For the first time in their lives, Link kissed Rhett, and Rhett kissed him back. Salty tears were falling down their faces and dripping into their mouths, and it was better than anything either of them could have imagined. After a long moment, they rested their foreheads together.  
“So what do we do now?”  
“Well, I think the first thing we need to do is kiss one more time.” For the second time in their lives, Link kissed Rhett, and Rhett kissed back. And everything fell into place.


End file.
